Icebox Experiments: Sloppy Joe's and Tater Tots

Belle was sick tonight. She was lolling around in a rather uncharacteristic manner. We gave her a little Motrin and waited. When she finally started to perk up a little, I broke away to make a dinner that would only take 10 minutes of prep at most. And so, experiment number two began. I decided to plumb my memory for the fast dinners that television moms made; when my mother cooks it is rarely quick (though always tasty.) Ever susceptible to advertising, my memory is full of old commercials for quick dinners consisting of cans of condensed mushroom soup, catsup, and some other packaged goodie.

My mother never delved into the land of instant meals. In fact, I experienced the casserole or ham steak and potatoes meal in childhood so infrequently that they actually held some amount of cachet. While I don’t love every one of these American dishes, some, like turkey tetrazzini, can be wonderful. I pride myself on being a middle of the road person, who can love the good despite the situation.

Many, especially those raised by very good cooks, have a palate that cannot handle packaged potatoes and American cheese. Others fear anything different. Still others enjoy, truly appreciate, the store bought and processed. In all these categories, the points of contention are all about taste, acceptance, and experience. They are also about proximity to good cooking, and I think they are about childhood. It is the rare person who has grown up with good food, who doesn't enjoy good food in adult, and it is a person I don’t think I would dine with.

Going back to my centrist palate, I would like to impart to my Belle the love of good food and the ability to find it in unlikely sources. I want her to enjoy the instant food for its instant-ness, just as I enjoy the gloppy Japanese “curry,” and I want her to enjoy the well-made for its perfection, just as I love a perfect Chicken biriyani. While I have detailed, and will continue to detail, the complicated means by which her meals are prepared (next week, homemade rice noodles), I also enjoy meals that lean heavily on prepared sauces.

Condiments are often high in salt and other bad stuff. But, in small amounts, I like the flavor that they add—and the convenience. I could grind prunes and add vinegar for tonight’s dinner. But instead, in the 2 minutes that I had by the stove, while my husband cuddled our listless baby, A1 worked just fine. For me, the problem with those “use one can of this brand soup…” recipes was that they gave busy housewives the hope that they would never have to use anything fresh, except a spring of parsley perhaps. Fresh ingredients and some effort will not be ruined by a dash of catsup or A1.

Recipe:
Sloppy Joes
Sweat in very little oil
1 small onion diced
1 carrots, washed and diced

Add
½ log Gimme Lean fake meat

Once the “meat” is browned, add:
1 T catsup
1 T and 1 t A1 Steak Sauce
1 splash Braggs Liquid Aminos
¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
salt to taste

Serve on toast and with store-bought tater tots.

(I didn’t want Belle to have too much acid. In the future, when she can handle more tomato, I will add 1 more T catsup and a little tomato paste.)

Icebox Experiments: Spaghetti Squash Primavera

Still haven't implemented the planning for the week thing. Ideally on Sunday, I would get the baby ready after her nap and go to the grocery store to look for what looks good and seasonal. Instead, this weekend, we went to Whole Foods for the vegan lot. I hate buying actual groceries there. But, I still haven't had the time to run to Heinen's. So, today, I sorted through what was in the icebox. The most old veg was a spaghetti squash, purchase date unknown. So, we went with spaghetti squash primavera. This was met with the same concern as fake meat tacos and vegan mac and cheese. This was bold forgery of a good old Italian recipe.

This experiment, like so many, had unexpected results. The adults loved it and the Belle didn't. She ate some of the vegetables out of it, but just spit out the squash. Alas, failure is part of playing the game.

Recipe:

Spaghetti Squash Primavera

Roast at 400

1 small spaghetti squash, halfed, de-seeded, and oiled

Sautee lightly

sliced carrot
sliced zucchini

sliced asparagus

To the veg, add
1 t meyer lemon zest or

1 t preserved meyer lemon

Toss in the spaghetti squash

Make a sauce by adding

1 t vegan margarine

3 T soy milk

squeeze of meyer lemon

(Can be completed with a few dollops of goat cheese, but of course we didn't.)

Zen Mountain Tofu Soup

Well, actually Shingon Mountain Tofu. As it was 40 degrees today, I was tempted to make freeze-dried tofu. Apparently the monks in a monastery outside Osaka freeze-dried 2 by 2 inch blocks to create a perfect camping food. Alright, perhaps I skimmed the articles too quickly. What got me in them is that there is a special range of freeze/thaw temperatures that are needed to make this delicacy. Isn't Cleveland all about wildly changing temperatures. Well, I didn't make it, but we all need dreams.

But, there is a whole chapter devoted the use of it in Belleme’s Culinary Treasures of Japan. In it there was one recipe for a New England Boiled Dinner using this power food. I didn’t have it on hand, but I did have a couple blocks of frozen-frozen tofu. The difference is that the Japanese stuff is not frozen when used, but instead preserved through a process of freezing and unfreezing. Mine was just hanging out in the freezer. If I took it out and left it on the counter, it would eventually spoil.

So why freeze tofu? The tofu changes texture completely. It becomes a made of flaky layers and has the texture of chicken. (kind of.) Frozen tofu is enjoyed in Chinese cuisine, under the moniker thousand layer tofu.

I came home full well meaning to make this boiled dinner using red potatoes and squash. But, when I got in, I couldn’t find the cookbook and I really wanted something with a little flavor. So, instead, I sautéed my tofu without oil and made a thai-ish soup. The soup was so satisfying for Belle that I was moved to give up buying Veganomicon. I love Isa; don’t know her, but love everything I read. Yet, I wonder if the cookbook will stifle my cooking creativity. I love cookbooks, but almost never bring them in the kitchen. I started to rethink them when my methodical cousin asked me for suggestions on 3 cookbooks for the new cook. I gave him my three and my husbands three (not the same, incidentally). After that, I decided I would start cooking with measuring spoons and recipes. It didn’t last too long. The recipes were right; what the author wanted me to create. But, the cooking of that food just didn’ t do it for me. I like the chance of failure, the creativity, and the use of whatever I have on hand.

This evening I wanted to use the galangal that I bought at Whole Paycheck. And, so we ended up with Tofu soup.

Recipes:
Frozen Tofu Noodle Soup
Defrost and squeeze dry
1 block frozen tofu

Sautee in very little oil
½ inch of galangal, peeled and sliced

Add tofu and continue to sautée until browned, at which time add any vegetables including:
Sliced carrots
Sliced squash
Sliced zucchini
Slice mushroom

Before the vegetables are fully cooked add
2 cups water
1 cube frozen mushroom stock or vegetable buillon (follow package directions)
½ a package of thin rice noodles

Cook until the noodles are tender.